Obama wins re-election, Democrats win big in the Senate

At 11:13 tonight — much earlier than anyone expected — NBC projected that Barack Obama had won Ohio and a second term as President of the United States. Shortly after, Fox News conceded his victory in Ohio (and the electoral college) as well. Three minutes later, the president tweeted the following photo:

It was also a huge night for women in Senate races. Tammy Baldwin is the projected winner of her Senate seat in Wisconsin, which should make her the first openly gay person to ever serve as a U.S. Senator. Elizabeth Warren edged out Scott Brown in Massachusetts. And Claire McCaskill trounced Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin.

Votes are still being counted in the four same-sex marriage initiatives from Washington, Maryland, Maine, and Minnesota. You can keep up-to-date with them at the following links:

Maryland’s Question 6 (We want voters who are “for the referred law.”) [Update: HRC is reporting that Maryland has passed the referendum making same-sex marriage legal!]

In the coming days and weeks, we will talk a lot about what President Obama’s victory means for the gay community, both in terms of the battles we face and the power we proved we had in helping re-elect him. It will also be a time for the Republican Party to start coming to terms with the fact that gay-baiting, race-baiting, and women-warring dosen’t pan out so well on election day. We’ll also get some final answers on the individual ballot initiatives on same-sex marriage.